European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 business news the stars and stripes sunday August 26,1990 East Mark reduced to sentimental value by Helge Thiel staff writer Frankfurt West Germany master  Wallace wishes he had acted sooner. Wallace who is assigned to the Frankfurt army regional medical Center has 1,000 East German Marks burning a Hole in his pocket and no Chance Roget rid of them. The deadline for changing East German currency into More valuable West Marks passed on july 6 As part of the currency Union Between the two German nations. Now Wallace and other american service members with a few coins or East German Bills i their pockets have every reason to feel Short changed. I m stuck with nearly 1,000 East German Marks said Wallace whose wife Evelyn took a trip to East Germany last december and brought Back the currency. Wallace said he tried for weeks to learn How he could turn the outdated communist currency into something of value but he came up empty handed. The master sergeant said he would have started asking questions earlier but he was on emergency leave with his wife in the United states when cur Rency Union took place. Now it s too late to act. I got in Contact with my Community Bank. Talked to the germans. Nobody could help me Wallace said. Americans with East Marks have few options at this Point said Jochen Egon Plassmann a spokes Man with the German Bundesbank in Frankfurt. According to Plassmann americans could have exchanged East Marks for West Marks before july 6, if they had been Able to show the original Exchange receipt handed to them when they bought the Money. Now with that possibility gone their Best Hope May be by consulting a Coin dealer but even this option offers limited Hope. ,. ,. We Are Only interested in Good looking coins from certain years said Katalin Szonyi a Frank furl Coin dealer. She said special years of interest to her include 1948, 1949 and 1950, when the East German state was first coming into being. Other Coin dealers said they Aren t interested in East German Money period. We do not buy East German Money at All. No coins and no Bills said Kurt Klaper who works at a Coin shop in Mannheim. Rudiger Kaiser another Frankfurt com dealer said he s interested Only in East German medals an certain commemorative coins minted for anniversaries and special occasions in the East bloc. I Don buy current coins he said. Karlheinz Maurey a banker in Worms said  with East German Money have Only one Choice to keep their East bloc Money a souvenirs from the cold War Days. At this stage collectors Aren t interested in hold ing the funny Money and Maurer said he in t sure when that situation will  Day the Cash May be highly valued by collectors but that Day he said could be 25, 50 or even 100 years away. Utility stocks a favourable alternative to Bonds sure of inflation Protection that in t of problems at nuclear Power projects available with the fixed interest pay to minimize this risk value line rec ments made on Bonds. Commends choosing among Utility stocks in addition he observed Utility stocks whose yields hover around the average for the Industry avoiding both the High and Low extremes. Why do we favor the Middle of the pack because it describes the most bal if the subject in cuts ton Irp laying the history suggests that Utility stocks have at specified times. In addition Bonds danced course of investment Schlei Market in the Hope of fun and profit been Superior to Bonds whether rates typically have a specified maturity Date concludes. Such rewards have been in very Short were going up or  when they arc redeemed for their face in Pur View yields much above these Delv of late and the risks that go with the 1977-89 period Schlein chose for his value in Cash. Norm imply an unusual degree of risk or ". 1 of i4 a study witnessed a wide variety of financial environments an upsurge in interest rat Sand inflation from 1977 to 1981 a Sharp decline in rates Between 1981 and 1986 by Chet Curriera business writer new York in this summer of swooning markets what possible incentive could a conservative income minded investor find to consider Ventur ing into stocks not much it would certainly appear including relatively generous yields and tendency to Rise or fall in Price mainly in inverse reaction to the ups and Downs of interest rates. But after examining the behaviour of Aren t encumbered by what he describe these two species Over the past 13 years As two restraints on the Appeal of Bonds. Schlein finds enough disparity in their Many Bonds come with Call provision performances to draw this conclusion that allow their issuers to buy them Back r.  have been Plain to see. But with a different objective and a correspondingly different strategy the picture looks less grim at least As it is. A painted by an analyst at the nation s larg and most recently a protracted stretch typically in the form of heavy construct esl investment advisory service. Milton Schlein associate research director at the value line investment sur vey set out to compare the relative Mer its of Bonds and electric Utility stocks two popular vehicles among investor seeking a steady Stream of income from their savings. The two have much in common relatively stable rates. In both the rising rate and falling rat environments he found Utility Stock prices fared significantly better than those of Bonds. Since 1986, he said the performance of the two has been about equal. The utilities biggest advantage Schlein said seems to be increases in their dividends which give them a Mea both these characteristics limit the a peal of a Good Many Bonds As a Means of ton programs and regulatory Uncertain Locking in yields for an extended Peri . By contrast with the Stock of a Utility on the other Side of the Ledger Utility in Peak financial condition Schlein said Stock yields Aren t As secure As those of the Price of Ultra safety is Likely to be a Boris. A Utility that runs into trouble is poor return in dividend yield almost certain to lower or eliminate the dividend on its Stock  would take the More drastic step of interrupting its contractual interest payments to bondholders. And some utilities do get into trouble we assume that most Utility investors especially those using these stocks As a Bond substitute Are concerned with drawing As High a current income As possible within their tolerance for risk Schlein said. For a top flight Utility the As witness the Many cases in recent years current yield is usually subpar illegal phones can Call up All sorts of problems  writer Frankfurt West Germany want to broadcast your very private phone Calls to the neighbourhood in West Germany it can happen if you re not careful. People have been turning on radios to find they Are tuned into the Telephone conversations of families Down the Block. The problem is caused by the use of inexpensive Tele phones that Don t meet the country s Telephone standards said Michael Chr of the Bunde Spost. It All began Hen rules were Liberali de on phone Pur chases and customers were no longer limited to models sold by the Federal Telephone division. A wide Range of commercial models can now be purchased in specially shops department stores and even supermarkets. To be used legally however All phones must carry a Zzz number. This number shows that the Model has been inspected and registered by the Federal phone division. Some inexpensive telephones particularly imports from the far East can t pass this inspection Behr said. They often cause Telephone line interference and connect to wrong numbers. The cordless models can also allow conversations to be picked up by area Home radios. Then everyone in the neighbourhood can tune in Behr said. The German phone division denies that it is artificially keeping the Price of telephones up by demanding that commercial models be registered. Behr explained that technical standards Are More demanding in West Germany than in some other places in the world. Telephones that Don t meet these standards won t function properly he said. Use of an illegal phone can result in More than private conversations going Public. If you Are caught Behr said your Telephone will be confiscated an you la have to pay a Fine. Goods and services output slower than expected Washington up America s total output of goods and services crawled ahead Only 1.2 percent in the second Quarter of the year the govern ment said Friday As the Economy struggled to Avert a recession. Private economists anticipated an in crease of 1.4 percent and warned that a period of negative or near Ycaro growth lies ahead because Energy and other con Sumer prices will Likely spiral As the iraqi crisis drags on. In its first revision of the real Gross National product the Commerce depart ment also reported corporate profits after taxes dipped 0.2 percent from april to june after inching ahead 0.5 percent in the first Quarter. The second Quarter s Overall $ 12.2 Bil lion increase in the real Gnu which Dis counts inflation follows a gain of 1.7 percent or $17,4 billion from Januar to March the department said. The figures in the report were adjusted for seasonal factors and calculated at an annual rate. Most of the revisions came from data collected during june a government spokesman said. The implicit Price deflator a critical measure of inflation tied to the report finished the second Quarter at 4.7 per cent Down from 4.8 percent in the first Quarter. Spending on durable goods plunged percent from april to june while spend ing on non durable goods was off 2 per cent. Spending on services however was up 5.1 percent. Exports of goods and services which rocketed 11.2 percent in the first Quarter were off 3.5 percent in the second Quarter while imports dipped 0.6 percent after advancing 2.5 percent from january to March